Bright Side by Steve Grimm
Give Steve Grimm credit for persistence. His star was in ascendance with Bad Boy, the hard rock band that made his name, just as FM freeform stations in the late 1970s were solidifying their formats to accommodate more of the kind of raucous hard rock in which his group specialized. And though classic rock radio playlists nowadays aren’t readily hospitable to new music from veteran artists, Grimm continues to regale followers with new music in vintage styles with Bad Boy and under his own name since the early ‘80s.
The latest is a right solid five-song EP. Bright Side has attitude, slyly impassioned vocalizing, guitar licks and the sort of glossy production that should satisfy Bad Boy lifers and newbies alike. And if anyone who can wax nostalgic over names such as Aldo Nova and Eddie Money catches an earful of Grimm’s latest, there’s plenty for them to like as well. The set’s title track finds Grimm in a positively hopeful frame of mind that’s a refreshing change of pace for the often hard-partying rocker.
Throughout Bright Side, Grimm remains in fine voice. Current radio formats' loss should still be a gain when it comes to lovers of late-period classic rock when it comes to Grimm's continuing worthwhile output.
